1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to safety covers for receptacles on electrical outlets, and more particularly to such covers having a locking block to which individual receptacle covers are attached to prevent their removal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several U.S. patents, listed below, disclose safety covers for electrical outlets. All the patents address the general problem of preventing accidental electric shock, especially to small children. The difficulty lies in leaving the outlet reasonably accessible for use, while at the same time covering it sufficiently to prevent accidental contact and electrocution.
Children, especially toddlers, sometimes are accidentally electrocuted by inserting a metallic object such as a paper clip, hair pin, or a nail file into an unprotected receptacle. Another type of accidental shock occurs when a child is playing with a plugged-in cord. In trying to remove the cord from the receptacle, a child often will grasp the plug so that his fingers touch the prongs while they are still plugged in. The present invention provides a solution to both aspects of the problem, by preventing insertion of foreign objects into a receptacle, and also by preventing removal of a plug.
Several of the patents listed below disclose a safety cover which is attached to the outlet assembly by a screw provided to hold the outlet cover in place. Cormier, Lerner, Piper, and Buckshaw further disclose flexible means for attaching the outlet cover to some part of the cover assembly. None of the patents or other publications known to Applicant disclose individual receptacle covers which mate with and are held in place by a separate locking block.
Before this application was filed, a search was made in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. That search developed the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ U. S. Pat. No. Issue Date Patentee ______________________________________ 2,559,151 July 3, 1951 Getzoff 2,878,456 Mar. 17, 1959 Cormier 2,932,811 Apr. 12, 1960 Abraham, et al. 4,671,587 Jun. 9, 1987 Lerner, et al. 4,801,271 Jan. 31, 1989 Piper 4,981,439 Jan. 1, 1991 Piedmont 5,009,610 Apr. 23, 1991 Woskow 5,017,148 May 21, 1991 Buckshaw 5,080,599 Jan. 14, 1992 Wimberly 5,106,314 Apr. 21, 1992 Bael ______________________________________